JEDDAH, 7 December 2005 — There are high expectations about the outcome of the two-day extraordinary summit of Islamic nations that opens in the holy city of Makkah today.
A cross-section of people in Saudi Arabia said the summit reminded them of the conference in 1969 when King Faisal brought together leaders of all Muslim nations and gave them a clear direction.
“Yes, the times have changed and we are in a far worse situation than what existed in 1969,” admitted Samir Al-Ghamdi, a student of engineering at King Abdul Aziz University. “The world has turned upside down in the intervening period. When the Organization of the Islamic Conference came into being in 1969 it was a bipolar world,” he pointed out. “We are in a unipolar world where the only superpower has almost untrammeled power to effect changes at whim,” he added, hinting at American intervention in Muslim states.
Dr. Muhammad ibn Nasser Al-Khozaim, deputy chief of the Presidency for Haram Mosque Affairs, said he wished every success for the summit, which is held in the right place at the right time.
“I pray to the Almighty that He may help OIC leaders to achieve the noble objectives of this summit,” he told Arab News.
Dr. Abubakar Ahmed Baqader, adviser to the information minister, commended Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for taking the initiative to hold the summit. “I’m proud of him,” he added.
He said the 10-year strategic plan was prepared by a group of scholars and intellectuals who knew the problems of the Ummah and who wanted to improve its situation.
Abdul Wahab Al-Rajhi, chairman of Al-Rajhi group, urged the summit leaders to implement their resolutions. “We hope the summit will have a positive effect on UN resolutions and in restoring the Ummah’s world position,” he told Arab News.
K.U. Iqbal, an Asian expatriate, said the OIC has not been able to achieve anything tangible in the 36 years of its existence. “The lack of unity among the member states has prevented the organization from implementing its resolutions. One of the problems it is facing is the fact that the organization is being used for propaganda purposes by the member states which wish to score a political point over their adversaries,” he said.
Muneef Ali Mirza, marketing manager of a communications firm, said it is a matter of shame that the combined GDP of the Muslim world constitutes just five percent of the world GDP. The total GDP of the 56 member countries stands at $1,400 billion, while that of Japan alone is $4,500 billion.
“Politicizing the OIC and using it as a tool for promoting vested interests will get the Muslim Ummah nowhere,” he added.
Sabrina Hassan, a Syrian who works in a Jeddah hospital, said she was happy that empowerment of women was on top of this summit’s agenda. “We have been ignored all this while. We have not been given the kind of place that we deserve. Muslim women are in a good position to counter the attack on Islam from within and without,” she said.
